UQ graduate wins Chinese scholarship

One UQ graduate is set to swap the Great Court for the Great Wall, after winning the 2010 ACC AustCham Scholarship in its inaugural year.

The scholarship, an initiative of the China-Australia Chamber of Commerce Beijing (AustCham Beijing), is a comprehensive career development platform aimed at fostering the next generation of Sino-Australian business leaders.

David Shaw said he was extremely honoured to be one of only 15 Australians chosen to receive the scholarship.

“It provides me with a path from which I will be able to realise my long held desire to work in strengthening Sino-Australian ties on a number of levels,” Mr Shaw said.

“The scholarship is able to add greater meaning to my future career because I believe that stronger ties between Australia and China will help to increase prosperity in both countries.”

The scholarship provides Mr Shaw with an opportunity to live in China and work within an Australian company that has operations there.

Each year, the scholarship will bring to China Australia’s top graduates across a range of academic disciplines to undertake a full-time nine-month graduate traineeship.

This involves being partnered with a mentor from within the Australian business community in Beijing, as well as being sponsored to attend industry seminars and provided with training on doing business in China.

“My traineeship will take place in Westpac's Beijing office,” Mr Shaw said.

“As the program is in its inaugural year, Westpac has allowed for a high degree of input from recipients as to what the traineeship shall involve.

“My work in Westpac will be aimed at increasing my knowledge of the way the banking system in China works and the way in which foreign banks operate within the Chinese banking regulatory system.

“An important element of this training will involve dealing in the Chinese inter-bank settlement accounts and seeing the way that foreign banks interact with the central bank of China.”

Mr Shaw graduated last week with a dual BEcon/BA (Political Science).

As part of his program, Mr Shaw was able to study elective courses of advanced Mandarin on exchange at Shandong University in China.

“My degree has provided me with an invaluable insight into the intertwined nature of economic and political relationships, which is so crucial to a deeper understanding of Sino-Australian ties,” he said.

“Further, my time spent on exchange has allowed me to engage with China on an individual level, providing a cultural and political awareness that can only be garnered via first-hand experience.”

At the end of the internship, exceptional individuals will be offered full-time positions in the companies’ China operations.

This year, the scholarship received 160 applications from 23 Australian universities.

For more information on the ACC AustCham Scholarship, visit the AustCham Beijing website.